Holiday Lutefisk, How Do We Love Thee

[YoChefGregg]

We prepare and eat a Mid-western smörgåsbord every Christmas eve.

One of the main items is lutefisk.

As kids we might put a piece on our plate, totally covered in a very thick béchamel sauce, but probably wouldn't eat it.

As time pasted, our defenses were worn down and now, most of us, even our spouses, and child, and now grandchild, eat their share of this Scandinavian delicacy. Or at least have a serving on their plate, totally covered in a very tasty béchamel sauce.

I have taken over the lutefisk cooking duties from my 75 year old mother.

We now heavily salt the raw lutefisk, placing it on a grate to allow the flesh to loose lots of its moisture. We rinse the lutefisk then place on a grate again and into the oven, 350ºF until flakey, oh god, we hope that it's flakey.

We now top ours with a béchamel that's got dijon mustard, nutmeg, onion and a touch of white wine added.

It's really quite good.

Göd Jul

[snowangel]

It's on the menu at our Christmas Eve dinner, as well. My mother-in-law is charge of it, and it comes ready to cook -- she actually nukes it to save on oven/stove space.

It's served over boiled potatoes with a choice of bechamel sauce (the dijon in the sauce is a great idea) or melted butter. I add a good dusting of black pepper.

One of my kids loves it, and the other two always take a bite.

Yes, it really is quite good!